Scriptwriting is one of the most important processes in film making. There are established conventions for laying out screenplays that make it an essential tool during all phases of production. Through exploring layout and formatting conventions, methods for overcoming writer’s block and story structure this report will summarise the key skills required to write a successful screenplay.
In a screenplay there is usually what is known as a three act structure. It simply keeps your beginning separate from your middle and the end so it helps make the story flow much easier as a guide to the type of thing that should happen to allow the story to progress. The three acts are simply numbered 1-3. Act one sets up the story, characters and plot. act two features the confrontation between the character and the issue and act three’ is the resolution, which resolves the conflict from act two. Inside these act’s there are even more sub structures, act one features the “exposition” which is usually at the start of a story and is told through background information. It also features the “inciting incident” which is the beginning of the main plot, something that triggers the character to do something. Act two has the “midpoint” which sets up the chain of actions that will lead the characters into the climax. In many ways, the midpoint is like a second inciting event, and “rising action” which is the section of the plot leading up to the climax. Finally act three gives us the “climax” which is often recognized as the most exciting part of a story. Finally, “Denouement”. This is the final outcome of the story, generally occurring after the climax of the plot Most Doctor Who episodes follow this structure. Taking the story Heaven Sent (2015) for example, act one opens up with the Doctor finding himself in an empty castle trying to get out, this is setting up the characters, plot and setting which act one’s do. In the episode, we see the Doctor teleport into the castle to discover he’s there and finds out he needs to get out. This is the plot set up here Act two features the first confrontation of the monster and the action begins to rise. In the episode it’s the discovery of the new room in the castle that ignites the inciting incident. Act three gives us the climax where the Doctor discovers his way out is on the other side of a diamond wall and spends 4.5 billion years punching it. Then the episode gives us the denouement. This is where everything goes back to normal and the characters are in the same position as the start of the episode before anything happens. Most times this can be very good for a show. In the case of Doctor Who, it is very important that the Doctor grows from his time in the castle and it helps the character develop more later in the series. So, when using the 5 act structure in a script, it can be very helpful because it means a writer won’t get lost along the way writing a script. It will help them to keep on track and not have an unbalanced script when it comes to the 3 acts and 5 sub structures.
The ‘Narrative Theory’ which was created by Tzvetan Todorov in 1960. The basics of narrative theory is that every story follows the same formula of a 5 step recipe that makes up many thousands of stories in Film and TV. People can easily get narrative and story mixed up and even think they’re the same thing but they aren’t. According to the narrative theory, the story details all the ‘building blocks’ seen in any medium of storytelling. That’s where “narrative” steps in: it’s how you weave the story material together and give it shape. Narrative is about organizing the story material and making choices about how to put it together. Narrative theory is so common that it’s hardly noticed in films, books, musicals, it’s everywhere. Most episodes of “Sherlock (2010-17)” follow this traditional narrative structure. Sherlock and John are relaxing at the start of the episode, then an action or character will do something that creates a case for them to solve. They begin their quest to find a solution and apprehend the villain. The narrative continues until they confront the villain at the climax. Once the disruption is resolved and the equilibrium is restored, Sherlock and Watson can relax again. That is until another case comes to their attention in the next episode. Todorov mentioned that there are 5 stages that a character will go through; those are “Equilibrium, Disruption, Recognition, Repair the Damage and Equilibrium Again.” (Richardson, J. 2013) The first stage is Equilibrium, this is the stage where the character is having a normal life and shows the day to day life the character has. Next is Disruption, this is a stage where the character started to get something wrong going off in their life. This could be anything ranging from an unexpected visitor, to something in their life beginning to fall apart. After that it’s Recognition, this is a stage where the character has realized the problem that affects the character’s and it starts to affect them, in a big way or a small way. Repair the Damage is next. This is a stage where the character tries to fix and manage the entire problem that is happening in the story. Usually this occurs towards ¾ the way through the story. Most people know this stage as the ‘climax’ as well. Where the big event happens and something is done to fix it. Finally there’s Equilibrium Again, this is a stage where the character has fixed and managed all the problems that happen in the story and in this stage, the character is back to how they were at the beginning of the story. Often this section is put in an ‘epilogue’ to show how the character is after the events of the story. Almost every script and screenplay follows these 5 narrative steps when a story is being created and developed.
‘Knowing how to format a script in the correct way is also a key tool for a scriptwriter that has a direct impact on production. A single page on a script usually equates to a minute on screen. Not having too many descriptions will help keep the page count down. Scene descriptions should usually be short but thorough. Not too detailed but enough to let the reader know what should be seen on screen. Usually it is quite common for scripts to have a few extra pages worth of content to help with setting up scenes and describing certain aspects to the audience, so, for example a 45 minute TV episode screenplay will usually have around 50 pages “the one-page-per-minute rule of thumb sometimes doesn’t hold up to much scrutiny. True, most film screenplays are about 120 pages, and true, most movies are around two hours. But the conversion rate between paper and celluloid is rarely one-to-one.” (Kaplan, M. 2006) There are a few writers who believe this as well, TV Screenwriter Russell T Davies also had to say “I and I know many other writers use these extra spaces in a screenplay to describe what a character is doing, we take the extra time to tell the audience what a character is like, it helps the actors to understand their characters more and that does mean having to use up more pages in the script” (T Davies, R. 2010)
Screenwriting can come with a lot of issues for example writer’s block. This happens when a writer’s ideas for a script or a story comes to a halt and they don’t know how to continue. Every writer will experience writer’s block at some point whilst writing a script whether it’s serious or not. It’s a little known fact that doing something completely different can help with writer’s block. “I’ve always adored painting but recently really got back into it and i think if you can light a little creative fire it can help the rest of your work, i got very blocked writing wise last year, it was bad and i felt very flat and painting scratches an itch which really invigorates me and helps with my other work for example my block in writing.” (Gatiss, M. 2018) If you take your mind off the issue at hand and try to be creative in another sense it can really help with writer’s block or any kind of block in general, It may even help develop new skills in something brand new! Talking at a panel, Mark Gatiss also said about writer’s block “I was talking to Steven Moffat about this the other day… and he said, ‘Really, in the end, you’re blocked because something you’ve done isn’t right. It’s not working.’ So you can unblock yourself by sort of admitting that, and going back and fixing it.” Writer’s block is usually a sign that an idea isn’t working on page so although it may seem like a good idea in your head, it can sometimes be hard or impossible to translate it to page”
When discussing short films you can find yourself quite limited with what you can do purely down the amount of time you have. There are a few differences between a short film and a feature film. A short film is obviously shorter in length so it limits you to the amount of content you want to put in it. Everything will be limited, from the amount of settings, to the amount of characters and even the plots themselves. According to Nick LaRovera in 2019, “Firstly, remember that with short films, less is more. Due to their shorter length, you are limited in how many ideas, characters, and conflicts you can explore effectively. 1. Have one major idea or concept with a simple setup and payoff. 2. There isn’t time for in-depth character development, so focus in on one relationship and conflict. 3. Make sure to wrap up the story cleanly by giving your audience a satisfying payoff at the end.” There is a pattern with most short films and that is a memorable start and ending. It is quite common for short films to have striking shots to open with, something that pulls you in right from the off. The vast majority of short films have a surprising ending too and takes a twist that no one else expects. This is because they all follow the same structure that due to having a limited amount of actors and plot points, directors want the audience to leave the film with something to remember and to make it worth their watching. “Every short film I watched had a three-point structure of setup, midpoint escalation or reversal, and satisfying conclusion. The midpoint is especially worth thinking about. At pretty much the exact midpoint of nearly every short, there was some sort of major escalation or reversal that took the story in a new or more extreme direction.” (Stark, L. 2015) For example a short film named ‘Coming Home‘ where the main character Sean finds he’s a dad only for the twist to be the mother of the child is just trying to find refugee kids a home with random people. Scripting short films follows the same route of scripting a full length film or a tv episode. The only exception is how short it will need to be and to try and keep to the three act structure and Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory as much as possible to keep the story intresteresting and to keep a nice flow to the whole thing. If that is achieved properly then a short film can be as engaging and gripping as a feature film and will leave people yearning for more once it ends.
In conclusion techniques new screenwriters need to be weary off and need to keep in mind are mainly the narrative theory by Tzvetan Todorov and the traditional three act structure for writing anything. It should be known that there are many ways to combat hurdles along the way for example writer’s block. Whenever a writer faces this issue they should try and tackle it by being creative in a different way. Channeling this creativity in a different way helps to open up doorways to new ideas and stories to help combat any issues a writer could have when it comes to writers block or any related issues they may have. If a screenwriter is tackling a short film then an important tip is to keep it not very complex, but memorable like having a twist or something that viewers will remember when they leave the film. Try not to go overboard with the writing as the time constraint will be a hurdle in terms of how creative you can be but some ideas thrive in the short films format so it is important that you have the right idea for the right film. Armed with all this knowledge it will help in making a professional and compelling screenplay that is up to the standards of scripts used for movies and tv shows by professional writers today.
Bibliography. –
Davies, R T and Cook, B (2010), The Writer’s Take: The Final Chapter, BBC Books: Ebury Publishing.
Dir: Talalay, R. Executive Producer / Writer: Moffat, S. (2015) Doctor Who and the Heaven Sent. BBC Studios / BBC Wales
Dir: (Various) Executive Producers: Gatiss, M and Moffat, S. Writers: Thompson, S. Gatiss, M and Moffat, S. (2010-17) Sherlock. BBC Wales / Hartwoods Films
Kaplan, M. How accurate is the page-per-minute rule? (22.03.2006) https://johnaugust.com/2006/how-accurate-is-the-page-per-minute-rule
Gatiss, M. Mark Gatiss on how painting helped his writer’s block. (21.07.18) https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06fbxt8
Moffat, S and Gatiss, M. On Screenwriting, with Advice from Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, retrieved from https://writersedit.com/fiction-writing/screenwriting-advice-mark-gatiss-steven-moffat/
Richardson, Jenny. Todorov’s narrative theory (15.07.13) https://www.slideshare.net/Katrinabrookes/todorovs-narrative-theory-24244633
LaRovera, Nick. 3 Elements Of Short Film Structure You Need To Know (20.03.19) https://www.raindance.org/3-elements-of-short-film-structure-you-need-to-know/
Stark, Laurie. How to write a Short Film: An Analysis (7.7.18) http://www.storybreakdown.com/how-to-write-a-short-film/
Dir: Agnihotri, N. Coming Home (2018). Cutting Coffee Films https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaowAl11tFU
Dan's Film and TV Production Blog 